The present disclosure relates generally to methods for analyzing database log files, and more particularly, to computing devices configured to generate interactive visual representations of the analysis for display to a user.
There are many different types of application programs that produce log files as part of their normal operating process. For example, many transactional database programs, such as DB2, ORACLE, and the like, produce and maintain a recovery log that contains a variety of information. Such information may include, but is not limited to, Units of Recovery (UR), various commands (e.g., SQL commands) and their associated data, and timestamp information for each command indicating a date and time that the command was executed by a computing device. Other information may also be written to the recovery log as needed or desired; however, regardless of the type of information stored, it is generally utilized to aid in disaster recovery operations.
Conventionally, recovery logs are created, written, and maintained by a database based on commands executed by one or more application programs. The recovery logs may be text-based files or binary files. In either case, there are tools that exist to display the information in the recovery log on a display screen. Typically, the log information is displayed to the user as text in a tabular format; however, even when displayed in this format, the sheer volume of information displayed in this format makes it notoriously difficult for users to analyze and glean any meaningful information.